We’ve been making chocolate Christmas trees since 2011. It’s one of our favourite things to do in the festive season! Here’s a step-by-step guide to how we make them.
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Step 1: Purchase a 3D Christmas tree mould. I highly recommend this one from Candyland Crafts (mould number C-1715). It costs just US$1.99, and we’ve used the same ones now for six Christmases. I use three for each batch, and I find that they produce a very prettily proportioned tree.
As an aside, if you’re buying from Candyland Crafts (they’re based in New Jersey USA), it’s worth purchasing in bulk (20 moulds or so at a time) in order to make the international shipping worthwhile. They have a huge range to choose from! I’ve bought from them for years now and have always been delighted with their products and service…
Step 2: Temper 600g of chocolate. We use a mix of half Callebaut 811 Dark (54% cacao) and half Callebaut 823 Milk – this produces a milk chocolate which isn’t overly sweet. For tempering instructions, please have a look at our Chocolate #101 tutorial. Remember that milk chocolate needs to drop to 86 – 88ºF (30 – 31°C) before it’s in temper, so be patient.
Once the chocolate is ready, place it on a heat mat covered with a tea towel. By the way, I do buy a lot of chocolate from Chefs’ Warehouse in Sydney, but the tea towel below isn’t advertising – it was just the only clean one in the kitchen…
Step 3: Stir in 150g of Pailleté Feuilletine. These wafer shards add a delicious crunch to the tree. After many years of experimenting, we now only make Feuilletine-filled trees, as the solid chocolate ones are very difficult to take apart and eat! I’ve been told (but have never tried it) that cornflakes make an acceptable substitute…
Step 4: Carefully ladle the mixture into the tree mould. If you remember (I usually don’t), fill the little stars before you add the wafer to the chocolate for a prettier result. Only fill each hole to about ¾ full…
Gently bang the moulds on the bench to spread the chocolate out evenly…
Step 5: Sit the filled moulds on a level surface in the fridge to set. They need about 15 minutes to harden completely, but I popped mine in and went for a walk. Once they’re ready, carefully turn them out onto a sheet of parchment. With practice, you should be able to just get three full trees from this amount of mix – I was a little bit short this time…
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Intermission: At this point, if you only have one heat mat and one bowl, wash the bowl and boil the heat mat and let it cool down. You’ll need them again for the second stage.
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Step 6: Find a Christmas elf to assist you, as it helps to have an extra pair of hands. Have a stack of spare moulds ready. Temper another batch of chocolate (either milk or dark is fine) and pop it onto the tea towel covered heat mat.
Now, spoon a blob of tempered chocolate onto a board and stick the base of the tree on securely. Add another small blob of chocolate on top…
Start layering up, from largest piece to smallest…
Step 7: Stick each layer on with just a little bit of chocolate around the rim. Resist the urge to fill the open cavity with chocolate – trust us on this one – we did that the first year and created Christmas tree shaped clubs that needed rolling pins to break apart…
Step 8: Keep layering up until you get to the top…
Step 9: Add just the tiniest bit of chocolate to the base of a star, and carefully position it on top. Then stand the finished tree in a cool spot to fully harden while you do the next one. You’ll have lots of leftover chocolate when you’re done – quickly ladle these into your spare moulds and pop them into the fridge to set…
Step 10: Dust your trees with icing sugar snow. I use a tea ball strainer and simply shake over the top. Viola! The perfect Christmas table centrepiece!
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As I’d misjudged my fills a bit this time, I had a few pieces leftover. Usually the boys just eat these, but Pete suggested that we try making a taller tree for our own table. It’s very stately…
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Our trees are now finished and wrapped in cellophane, ready for gifting. Onto gingerbread next! I hope you’re all enjoying the festive season as much as we are!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 